HR, there’s nothing being asked of you that hasn’t been asked before, says Deloitte’s Kyle Forrest

“There’s nothing that’s getting asked of a HR function that hasn’t been asked of them before.

The difference is the speed that they’re expected to respond to it, and the spotlight they’re under.”

Those are the words of Kyle Forrest, Future of HR Leader, Deloitte Consulting LLP, during an exclusive interview at UNLEASH America 2026.

“AI is getting forced down everyone’s throat 24/7,” which begs the question: Where should leaders focus their attention in 2026?

Deloitte’s 2026 Global Human Capital Trends report, which surveyed 9,000 leaders and workers across 89 countries, provides advice on what HR should prioritize. UNLEASH digs into the data with Forrest to discover what decisions HR leaders, and organizations more widely, need to make to thrive in the age of AI.

Organizations want to adapt AI, but they’re not culturally ready

According to Deloitte’s Trends report, seven in 10 leaders believe that competitive advantage in the age of AI will come from being fast and nimble.

Forrest notes that the issue is that “most of our businesses and our functions were not built for fast and nimble” – they were built for efficiency and control, with functions like HR, IT and Finance often living in silos.

The figures speak for themselves.

Deloitte found that just 27% of leaders said their organization managed change well – this is a huge concern as one in three workers have experienced more than 15 major changes in the last year alone.

To add to this, organizations are experiencing so-called ‘cultural debt’ from AI.

42% of workers told Deloitte that their organization is not evaluating AI’s impact on people, despite 59% of organizations taking a tech-first approach to AI.

Success from AI comes from a cultural and behavioral shift. So, Forrest asks: “How are you going to actually navigate a cultural transformation if you’re not even explicitly thinking about it when you’re throwing AI into the mix?”

Leaders, be explicit in this challenging AI moment

For Forrest, the answer is for leaders to “take implicit things and make them explicit.”

“Be explicit about our human and machine philosophy for the company” – this means a definitive plan on what work humans will do and which will be done by machines.

“Be explicit about how you expect behaviors to change, then back that up with incentives and metrics, so that behavior change gets rewarded.”

Success comes from leaders role modelling good behavior. Standout companies “have their executives showing up, using AI, talking about AI, demonstrating how they’re using AI,” according to Forrest.

This approach addresses the culture debt challenge, as well as the fact that AI is increasingly driving business decisions.

60% of executives told Deloitte they use AI regularly to support their decision-making, and it is clear that “AI is changing decision-making relative to the expected speed of the decision.”

The issue is that Forrest reminds UNLEASH that “there’s a difference between being smart and being wise.”

“The risk we run with AI’s impact on decision-making is that smart, intelligent people will accept the answers, make decisions and run with it,”  but “not necessarily allow the room for wisdom and judgement” on whether AI is making the right decision.

Forrest recommends that organizations lean on a decision-making frame used by Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos – two-way doors and one-way doors.

Two-way doors are where it’s okay “to make a bad decision using AI, because I can walk back through it,” whereas with one-way doors, if you make a bad call, you cannot row it back.

With AI, Forrest calls for leaders to be very explicit on putting guardrails on the “types of decisions it’s okay to move faster with AI,” and those where the process needs to be slower and more considered.

We need to make sure in our process of moving fast that we’re not moving too fast,” adds Forrest.

HR itself needs to get very explicit with its own role in this AI-powered world of work; Forrest calls for the function to “reground on what is the business asking you to do?”

In a fast and nimble business – that seven in ten leaders want in the next few years – HR is “going to have to ruthlessly prioritize”.

HR needs to get comfortable setting boundaries with the business. It’s time to reframe and say “here’s what we expect to deliver to you, the business, and by the way, if there’s things you want us to do that we’re not doing, the we’re happy to do it, if you fund it”.